Travel Blog Posts
November 9th 2007
For those interested, I'd just like to go about a quick and mildly comprehensive of my experience here in Guizhou, China. Without delving too deeply into the personal reactions, observations, etc...I would just like to share with you some phenomena and general occurrences. Since completing the summer English language training program in August, I decided not to return to Tsinghua University in Beijing, for many reasons that I will simply summarise by stating that the language environment simply does not match that offered here in the South (despite the South's doubtless influence on my standard Mandarin accent). My English has temporarily gone down the tubes. A good example of late is an occasion in which I forgot the English word "harmony," but could say it in Chinese and explain it in turn...this sad turn ended with ... read more
October 15th 2007
Hello gente, Just writing a quick note to let those who by some stroke of fate might be thinking about me and whether or not i'm still alive or lost out in the world. I assure you i am thriving and quite alive, just busy out my ears lately, and by lately, i mean all the time. i apologise for not writing for a good long while, and if things quiet down or i feel i've made enough language progress then perhaps i'll write an update summarising all of the crasiness and interesting things that have been taking place in my life here in guiyang/southeast guizhou. my mama bird came and visited me for a week, which was the most recent topic of interest, but anyway, i've got to continue studying! sorry, just a couple of ... read more
August 14th 2007
Guiyang: My days here in Guiyang consist of roughly 10+ hours of teaching. I teach 20+ aspiring English Tour Guides the English language (in the context of Tourism, etc...) from 9:00am-5:30pm, with a 2 hour break for lunch and time to prep for the following day’s class. Though I am tired to the point of losing all abilities of comprehension, I love every minute of this lively and non-stop existence, here in this organic, thriving city of Guiyang. In total honesty, being here in the south of China makes me want to never return to Beijing, with its grey clouds, hot and oven-like feel, and lonely distance. It’s also a blast being the only 老外in town, with the exception of Shannon, my classmate and fellow teacher here at Guiyang Normal University, situated in comfortable walking distance ... read more
June 7th 2007
Situated in the hills that surround Congjiang, the riverside Chinese equivalent of a one-horse town, Basha is perhaps the most well-known and popular Miao village in the state. In terms of scenery, Basha most certainly puts the former to shame. While still touched by the hand of development, evident in one or two of the photos I posted, this village, spread through the lush foothills of southeast Guizhou province, in comparison with more easily accessible roadside towns such as Congjiang, this Miao village retains the vast majority of its original character. Our local guide and village resident Gui Yuanliang (his Mandarin name don t ask me for his Miao name I definitely missed that one) is actually a nation-wide movie star. Don t let his stature fool you, this guy is one hardened, gun-toting, chest-puffing stack of a man. ... read more
June 6th 2007
PERFORMANCE+TANG2AN1-2007, June 6: Woke up early as the crowing rooster outside our room (4am-6am), ventured over to the restaurant to nibble at some Chinese breakfast, but just consumed a bunch of tea and had a little bit of Chinese b-fast dumpling. After exploring the surrounding rice paddies and taking in the scenery with some of my friends, we all went to the entrance of the village to follow the Dong welcoming party. It is customary for the Dong to meet guests (especially fellow Dong from other villages, or say…CCP officials doing a cultural tour???) at the entrance of their village and sing the welcoming song, as well as play their wind and string instruments. They also offer small cups of rice wine to those entering. After witnessing this operation we followed the choral parade to ... read more
June 6th 2007
ZHAO4XING-2007, June 6: Nyah4 lai4! (“ni3hao3” in Dong4hua4-the language of the Dong) After flying into Gui4yang2 airport, the ventricle to the vast and varied (yet continuously rain-soaked, at least during this fertile and most rainy of rainy seasons) province of Gui4zhou1, we (the W&M tour group, led the wonderful miss Li4 Dong1xia2 (Dongxia, as we kindly address her) and local Guizhou gurus Zhang1 Xiao3Song4 (xiaosong translates to “little pine”) and Wang2 Jun1, we then boarded a smaller vessel, which took us deeper into the province, to Li3ping2. After arriving in Liping we boarded our bus and drove for a good many hours to Zhaoxing zhai (the village of Zhaoxing), our final destination for the 6th/7th of June. After arriving and eating dinner at a local restaurant (where the food is always plentiful and soul-filling, even ... read more
June 3rd 2007
Hello friends and family alike! It’s me, Devin, writing to you from Hong2Qiang2Fan4Dian4 (Red Wall Hotel) in Jing3Shan1, a zone in Beijing, fairly central, just several blocks from the Forbidden City itself, as well as Tiananmen Square. I thought I would keep you up to date from time to time on my life here in China for the next 7 months (sorry if I forgot to mention it!), so I hope you all benefit from my observations and the experiences I hope to accumulate here in the capitol of the PRC! After traveling back in time, racing the sun to first Narita airport in Tokyo, Japan and then falling behind it, I arrived in Beijing, China, the locus of a state that has come under increasing international focus; I found a dark, grey, and surprisingly ... read more
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